


a peculiar way to care (but one nonetheless)

by ro_blaze



Series: fairy tail; rewritten [4]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Gratsu Weekend 2020, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Post-Fantasia, Pre-Relationship, idiots being dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23118364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ro_blaze/pseuds/ro_blaze
Summary: not long after the dust has settled, gray goes out to look for natsu.[file four of fairy tail; rewritten. post fantasia arc, pre oracion seis arc]
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster
Series: fairy tail; rewritten [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1221527
Kudos: 29





	a peculiar way to care (but one nonetheless)

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: this one was written as file two at first, but then femslash february came and i am gay so thats what happened 
> 
> also counts as a late entry for the gratsu weekend held on tumblr! day 4: soothe
> 
> (happens right after the fighting of fantasia, before the festival!)

“you look like shit.”

natsu looks up and as he walks closer, gray doesn’t attempt to hide a small smile. he sits down next to them and follows their gaze to the half-ruined city they call home.

“same to you, ice breath. what do you want?” they ask. there’s no real anger in their voice. “i’m tired.”

“we’re all tired,” he says, amused. “i mean, i’m surprised you haven’t passed out somewhere. that’s was what happened the last time your idiot brain decided to eat something it wasn't supposed to eat.”

gray expects them to bristle and start a fight, but instead natsu laughs.

“nah, i’m not gonna pass out. probably gonna get my ass beaten.”

“you usually deserve to get your ass beaten,” gray remarks, “but why this time?”

they shrug. in the process, their scarf almost falls off and he watches them curse and mutter in a language he doesn’t understand while they fix it. he envies the way they still keep their smile, almost blinding in its brightness.

“i did something… dunno. reckless. dumb.” natsu stares out to magnolia. “doing that gets to people nerves, y’know. people get worried or somethin’.”

“we’re pretty much used to you doing shit. i think you took enough beating already, though.”

natsu looks up and gray finds himself amused by the surprise written over their face. one of their eyes is covered with fresh bandages, as is the back of their head. he’d seen them after a far worse beating, but it’s always weird how fucking fast they heal.

“did you just say that?” they ask. their eyes—at least, the visible one—is almost comically wide. “i can’t believe you actually care!”

gray rolls his eyes and reaches to hit them. natsu hits right back and he does his best to hide his wince. damn, that fight bruised him real bad.

“have you ever gone to the infirmary, idiot?” natsu asks, their voice somewhat agitated.

“there were worse injuries than few bruises, ash brains,” he grumbles in answer. “i can take few bruises.”

natsu doesn’t look convinced—damn it, can’t they drop the whole stubbornness act sometimes?—but they close their mouth and settle back down on the bench. gray stares at them for a long moment before turning his head back to magnolia. they’ve already been arranging some fixing to be down around town, but everyone is far too beaten up for any serious action to be done yet. erza is still in the infirmary after taking half the electric charge and the master hasn’t recovered enough to do anything.

“do you think it’s our fault?”

gray looks up at the question and stares at his teammate, then gestures for them to elaborate. natsu sighs.

“like… dunno. laxus complained a lot about the guild going full of weaklings and causing problems and shit…” they shake their head. “what if it’s our fault, too? we did lots of shit.”

“laxus had serious issues with everything, dumbass. just because you ruined a building or two doesn’t matter in the big scale.”

natsu shoves him and he almost falls off the bench.

“i ruined a building or two? how about you, asshole? i didn’t break a mountain all by myself!”

“to be honest, that was equally erza’s fault as it’s mine or yours.”

natsu opens their mouth, probably to say something about erza, then shuts it and looks back around. gray can’t help but laugh at that reaction, covering his mouth with one hand. he’s heard natsu say lots of shit about erza, but then again… erza hasn’t been herself since everything _that_ happened. that makes him grow quiet, too.

natsu offers him a hand and he accepts it, pulling himself from the ground with their help and dusting off. the sun is setting, turning the far end of the sky in a deep orange-red. although orange has never been his favorite color, gray thinks it looks rather nice as it showers his city with light.

his eyes move to the person next to him and despite everything, he thinks the orange looks rather nice on natsu, too. the light is just enough to bring out the freckles they thought were dirt back when they were kids. when they catch him looking, they smile their stupid smile at him and hold out one hand to him, fingers outstretched.

“come, frosty. let’s get your bruised butt to the infirmary and hope the old hag doesn’t beat you up further for not showing up earlier.”

gray has half the mind to give an equally stupid reply, but instead decides to let it pass just this time and reaches for their hand.

**Author's Note:**

> come visit me at my tumblr, [pan-princess-levy](http://pan-princess-levy.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
